mona and the know-how of modest indian dining

I spend much of my time here with Mona. I go to her Montessori school often, help her prepare meals when she is willing to put up with my inexperienced hands, and run errands with her. Also, we found a little kid toy piano with 22 keys and a makeshift power chord. Now, for fifteen minutes a day during the children's nap time at the Montessori school, I teach Mona the basics of piano.Slowly we are becoming more natural and comfortable with one another, losing the stiffness that usually accompanies new acquaintances and new friends. She speaks only basic English, but we still joke with each other and laugh with each other despite our lack of understanding. I think she might even enjoy having me here.

More than any other member of the Ganatra family, Mona loves to make me eat. We even had our first argument when I was attempting to decline a 3rd piece of naan at lunch:
Me: No, thank you.
Mona: but you're not EATING!
Me: what?! I'm ALWAYS eating!
Mona: You're NOT! Eat NAAN!
Me: nooooooooooooooo
Mona: eat NAAN!
Me: FINE!

Realizing that sewing elastic on my pants will do little good since I gain weight in all of the glorious places, and not wanting to sacrifice my favorite pair of jeans, I knew that I needed to take action. I've developed a somewhat fallible technique to avoiding multiple servings of food.

Your see, Mona cooks naan while Mom and I are eating so that Mom, who has no teeth, can eat hot naan, which she is able to chew. So, she is away in the kitchen while I am eating, but she is frequently binging me more naan if I have less than one a half pieces left. So, for the first five minutes of the meal, I eat very little so that there is no room on my plate for additions food. Then, when she is in the kitchen cooking naan, I gorge my food and try to finish everything on my plate before she comes back with more naan. If I am not completely done with my dishes stacked by the time she returns, she smacks a couple more pieces of naan down on my plate, which means that I also have to take more of the dish being served.

Another key to minimizing food intake is to always balance the entree with the naan. If you have extra naan and little serving left, than she will dish you up some more of whatever Gujarati dish is being served. Having more serving than you do naan to eat it with calls for two more additional pieces of naan. But then you have to be served more of the dish, and so the cycle continues. Thus, the naan entree ratio is very important to balance. You must always clear your plate.